Paris, 13 September 2002: The Assembly and the Portuguese WEU Presidency are hosting a one-day seminar on security in the western Mediterranean on 8 October 2002 in Lisbon.
“The Assembly and the Portuguese Presidency chose to focus on this region because it is adjacent to the EU and there is a risk of it being neglected as the security debate tends to be dominated by events in the eastern part of the Mediterranean”, President Bühler explained. However, recent tensions between Spain and Morocco over a disputed island had highlighted the need for increased dialogue. The global threat of international terrorism would give an impetus to joint Euro-Mediterranean initiatives.
“We want to make representatives of these countries familiar with European security and defence policy, but we also want to show European participants that forging security links with the countries concerned has potential benefits for ESDP. The western Mediterranean is in many ways an important neighbour for us”, Bühler added. “We also hope to encourage North African countries to intensify their intra-regional security dialogue”.
Representatives of WEU, the EU and North African countries will participate in the seminar which will be divided into three sessions: the first will be an evaluation of the “security risks, threats and challenges” in the region. General Garcia Leandro, Director of the Portuguese National Defence Institute, will present a comprehensive introduction paper.
The second session will concentrate on “human development in the Maghreb countries and cooperation between the member states of the Arab Maghreb Union”.
The third session on the theme of “the European response to today’s security challenges in the western Mediterranean, a revival of the Barcelona process” will be devoted to a critical examination of the results of EU policy towards these countries and will explore the possibilities for new initiatives, particularly in the field of security and defence.
The draft programme of the seminar is available on the Assembly’s web site (http://assembly.weu.int) in the “activities” section. Media representatives wishing to attend the seminar are requested to contact the Assembly’s Press Service.